During a career that has spanned four decades Stephen Poliakoff has established himself as a unique talent, a fine stage dramatist and auteur. His work as writer and director has seen him hailed by the Daily Telegraph as 'our most poetic and best TV dramatist' while in the US his television dramas have received critical acclaim, The Lost Prince winning three Emmy Awards and Gideon's Daughtertwo Golden Globes.This comprehensive study of Poliakoff's work for stage and screen is the first of its kind and will prove an invaluable companion to students of film, media and theatre studies. Professor Robin Nelson locates Poliakoff's vision and independence as a writer director in his meteoric rise to success in the theatre - which saw him become writer in residence at the National Theatre at the age of 24, in his family background and in the intersection between personal and public histories.Poliakoff's work for stage and screen is examined in broadly chronological and thematic clusters beginning with his documenting of urban youth culture in early stage plays and in his later TV drama The Tribe. It moves on to consider his women character plays, his issue plays, history plays, feature films and lastly his television dramas which have brought his work to a much larger audience and secured his reputation as our most distinctive television dramatist.

Robin Nelson is currently Visiting Professor at Central School of Speech and Drama (University of London) and Emeritus Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University where he was Professor of Theatre and Television Drama until 2010.